Pension system sees 14.3% return on investments

The state’s pension system portfolio has increased in value by more than $4 billion, according to a news release from the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System.

The fund returned 14.3% on investments as of Dec. 13, 2010, the midpoint of the current fiscal year. The earnings raised the system’s assets to $36 billion, $4.2 billion more than at the close of fiscal year 2010 on June 30.

Maryland’s pension system performed better than 65% of public funds of similar size in other states, according to the news release.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, one of the broadest indicators of market performance, rose 15.03% last year.

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A new national study found that many state pension systems over-invest in their own states and lose money, but Maryland is not one of them.

The study, published earlier this month by two faculty members at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, looked at whether state pension systems seemed to be biased toward making investments in their own states. The study found that when states keep their pension investment dollars close to home, they tend to lose more.